


Science and Progress

by QuickLikeLight



Series: An Hour and Under [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Character Death, F/M, I don't even go here and then I did this, I'm Sorry, Song Lyrics, Songfic, the scientist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 10:28:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4259919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickLikeLight/pseuds/QuickLikeLight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s dying. He’s dying, and she doesn’t know - cannot know how important she is. How special she’s been to him. How she took his broken parts and built something new.</p><p>He’s dying and she doesn’t know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Science and Progress

**Author's Note:**

  * For [picturestoproveit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/picturestoproveit/gifts).



> I did this to make Kate sad and I ended up making us all sad. Whatever. Kate, you're no robot. I can prove it using only The Scientist and Tony Stark. 
> 
> This was originally posted in Facebook Chat. I cleaned it up for here and tumblr.

He’s dying. He’s dying, and she doesn’t know - cannot know how important she is. How special she’s been to him. How she took his broken parts and built something new.

He’s dying and she doesn’t know.

_Questions of science, science and progress, don’t speak as loud as my heart._

Tony, who uses science to compensate for a heart that's been torn time and again, mostly by himself. Torn for his mother. Torn for his father. Torn for Obie, and for Rhodey, and for Yinsen. Torn for the man he left in the cave, the man that used to play Tony Stark on stage.

Torn for Jarvis.

He brings her all these pieces, and that's all he has, that's all he _is_  anymore, is pieces. But he brings them to her.

_You don't know how lovely you are._

The song’s stuck in his head but he doesn’t mind. It’s kind of nice, actually. He should hate it but he can’t. Not now.

 _It's such a shame for us to part_ , he thinks, as J.A.R.V.I.S. tells him that she isn't answering the phone. There's no time. He's out of time. _Oh, take us back to the start._

He won’t get up this time. He’s a scientist, and he hasn’t constructed a lot of human bodies or anything, but he’s definitely sure how mechanics work. His aren’t working. He won’t ever get to see the way the light hits her hair through the window and makes it look a little like a halo, maybe a crown, again. Won’t get to see the way her eyes crinkle at the corners when she smiles, but it's okay. It's okay. He doesn't need to. For the rest of his life, however long it is, he'll remember. He'll have that.

J.A.R.V.I.S. can't make her answer the phone, but there's an input device on her phone. He can hear her talking. She's in a meeting. Running the world, his favorite girl. He'll never tell her, but he made a suit for her. He'd hoped - Well. He'd hoped for a lot of things. And he got most of them. Isn't that enough, for someone like him? Isn't it enough that he gave her piles of ashes, and she gave him back her smile?

He'd never tell her. He couldn't, and that's the whole of it - he can't. Even now he can't. But he'd like to tell her _something_ , even if it isn't _that_. He'd like to say, “Hi.” He'd like to tell her she's pretty again. He'd like to laugh with her one more time before his time is up.

He asks one more time.

"Hey buddy." He can feel the air getting thin in the suit. It's hard to talk, but he needs to. "Give her a ring, wouldja?"

She answers, voice bright gold in his brain where colors are flashing brilliantly behind his eyes - lack of oxygen, he knows, but it's beautiful.

"Hey Pep," he says. He's trying to conserve. Wants it to last as long as it can. As long as he does.

"Tony, you sound -"

"Say, Pep, remember our first date?"

"Do you mean our first dinner out, or the time we used a giant arc reactor to blow up your arch nemesis?"

"Yeah babe. That one." God, it's hard to keep his voice steady. But he does. For once in his life it's not really even about him anymore. He wants her to have this. To have one time when he told her something real.

"Tony what's wrong?" She's a smart girl, his Pepper. His Virginia. She'd kill him if - but then, she doesn't have to.

"Nothing. Just thinking. We should..."

"I'm calling someone, is J.A.R.V.I.S. with you? I'm calling -"

"Stay, Pepper. I just wanted to say... I wish.."

"Tony, what -?"

"I wish I could go back to that day, just one more time."

"Tony you almost died that day! _I_ almost died that day! _The entire world almost_ \- tell me where you are right -"

"My life _started_ that day, Pepper. I'd do it over again a thousand times, just to feel that again."

It's almost over now. It feels like these minutes have lasted for hours and it's almost over, and he's glad. In his bones he's glad, because this is what he wanted, really. When he put on the suit, this is what he wanted.

"I love you, Pepper Potts." He can hear her crying now, and that's tough, but Pepper's strong. She'll be okay. They'll take good care of her, and her of them. They'll be good together. She'll make a great Iron Man.

"I hate you Tony," she says, but she's laughing and crying at the same time, and he knows.

"You love me. You love me Pep. Say it. Let me hear it." He doesn’t say “One last time.” He doesn’t need to. She knows.

"I love you." It's relief, sweet in his blood. "I love you, Tony. I love you. I love you. I hate you but I love you. Please don't - wherever you are, we'll find you. I love you. Don't go. Don't -"

 

In the end, it's what he wanted.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Your feedback is valuable to all fic writers, and I'm no exception. If you enjoyed this story, please let me know.
> 
> Come find me on [tumblr](http://quicklikelight.tumblr.com).


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